Question 1

A comparison of ages calculated by carbon-14 analysis with ages known by other means results in

Accepted Answer

A)  a match of the ages, within known uncertainties. 
B)  the calculated ages being older. 
C)  the known ages being older. 
D)  some calculated ages being younger and some older. 
A)  a match of the ages, within known uncertainties. 
B)  the calculated ages being older. 
C)  the known ages being older. 
D)  some calculated ages being younger and some older.

Question 2

Which isotope is the least stable?

Accepted Answer

A)  Carbon 12 
B)  Carbon 13 
C)  Carbon 14 
D)  Nitrogen 14 
A)  Carbon 12 
B)  Carbon 13 
C)  Carbon 14 
D)  Nitrogen 14

Question 3

The two keys to determining the absolute age of a rock are

Accepted Answer

A)  measuring the abundance of parent isotope and measuring the abundance of daughter isotope. 
B)  knowing the half-life and measuring the abundance of parent and daughter isotopes. 
C)  knowing the composition and the geologic period the rock is from. 
D)  identifying all the minerals in the rock and knowing the half-life of each mineral. 
A)  measuring the abundance of parent isotope and measuring the abundance of daughter isotope. 
B)  knowing the half-life and measuring the abundance of parent and daughter isotopes. 
C)  knowing the composition and the geologic period the rock is from. 
D)  identifying all the minerals in the rock and knowing the half-life of each mineral.

Question 4

Atoms that have the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons are called

Accepted Answer

A)  radioactive. 
B)  isotopes. 
C)  electrons. 
D)  carbon atoms. 
A)  radioactive. 
B)  isotopes. 
C)  electrons. 
D)  carbon atoms.

Question 5

Revisions of the absolute ages of the geologic time-scale boundaries exposes flaws inherent to the geologic time-scale.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

Choose the option that orders the measurement of time from shortest to longest.

Accepted Answer

A)  epoch, period, era, eon 
B)  era, epoch, eon, period 
C)  period, epoch, era, eon 
D)  epoch, period, eon, era 
A)  epoch, period, era, eon 
B)  era, epoch, eon, period 
C)  period, epoch, era, eon 
D)  epoch, period, eon, era

Question 7

If daughter isotopes are lost from a mineral after radioactive decay begins the calculated age of the mineral in questions will be

Accepted Answer

A)  correct. 
B)  no age can be calculated. 
C)  too old. 
D)  too young. 
A)  correct. 
B)  no age can be calculated. 
C)  too old. 
D)  too young.

Question 8

What percentage of the 339 natural isotopes are unstable?

Accepted Answer

A)  99.9 
B)  10.0 
C)  50.6 
D)  20.6 
A)  99.9 
B)  10.0 
C)  50.6 
D)  20.6

Question 9

What did William Smith correlate while researching coal mines in Britain?

Accepted Answer

A)  fossils in different layers in the same mine 
B)  fossils in the same layers in different mines 
C)  composition of coal seams in different mines 
D)  types of rock layers in different mines 
A)  fossils in different layers in the same mine 
B)  fossils in the same layers in different mines 
C)  composition of coal seams in different mines 
D)  types of rock layers in different mines

Question 10

The oldest dated minerals on Earth are ________ years old.

Accepted Answer

A)  4.03 billion 
B)  542 million 
C)  4.4 billion 
D)  4.56 billion 
A)  4.03 billion 
B)  542 million 
C)  4.4 billion 
D)  4.56 billion

Question 11

What did the author of the following quote mean? "The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning -- no prospect of an end."

Accepted Answer

A)  James Hutton had postulated the age of the Earth, and it was considerably older than most scientists imagined. 
B)  Unconformities, nonconformities, and the slow rate of erosion defined Earth as much older than religious leaders and scientists of the time believed. 
C)  The water cycle had a much greater scope and a capacity of hidden water than scientists had imagined. 
D)  Rocks had been transforming through the rock cycle for billions of years and could be expected to continue to do so for billions of years more. 
A)  James Hutton had postulated the age of the Earth, and it was considerably older than most scientists imagined. 
B)  Unconformities, nonconformities, and the slow rate of erosion defined Earth as much older than religious leaders and scientists of the time believed. 
C)  The water cycle had a much greater scope and a capacity of hidden water than scientists had imagined. 
D)  Rocks had been transforming through the rock cycle for billions of years and could be expected to continue to do so for billions of years more.

Question 12

Why does a potassium-argon dating time scale reset during heating?

Accepted Answer

A)  Expansion of the crystal structure may permit the loosely caged argon atoms to escape. 
B)  Reduction of the crystal structure may permit the loosely caged argon atoms to escape. 
C)  It gets so hot that it throws off the time scale. 
D)  This does not happen. 
A)  Expansion of the crystal structure may permit the loosely caged argon atoms to escape. 
B)  Reduction of the crystal structure may permit the loosely caged argon atoms to escape. 
C)  It gets so hot that it throws off the time scale. 
D)  This does not happen.

Question 13

How do geologists reconstruct geologic history with rocks?

Accepted Answer

Both relative and absolute dating method

Question 14

Which statement is not true about the principle of faunal succession?

Accepted Answer

A)  Fossils that appear at different places and over different eras are of different species. 
B)  Fossils of different organisms first appear at different times. 
C)  Fossils of related organisms change in the same fashion in progressively younger rocks every place they occur. 
D)  Fossil species disappear from the rock record everywhere when they become extinct and do not reappear in younger rocks. 
A)  Fossils that appear at different places and over different eras are of different species. 
B)  Fossils of different organisms first appear at different times. 
C)  Fossils of related organisms change in the same fashion in progressively younger rocks every place they occur. 
D)  Fossil species disappear from the rock record everywhere when they become extinct and do not reappear in younger rocks.

Question 15

While looking at a cliff, you observe that three visible layers of rocks are tilted about 30 degrees. There are four straight horizontal layers above the tilted layers. Which two principles suggest that the tilted layers are older than the horizontal layers?

Accepted Answer

A)  the principle of inclusions and the principle of original horizontality 
B)  the principle of superposition and the principle of inclusions 
C)  the principle of cross-cutting relationships and the principle of superposition 
D)  the principle of original horizontality and the principle of superposition 
A)  the principle of inclusions and the principle of original horizontality 
B)  the principle of superposition and the principle of inclusions 
C)  the principle of cross-cutting relationships and the principle of superposition 
D)  the principle of original horizontality and the principle of superposition

Question 16

A rock that is 20 million years old comes from the ________ Period.

Accepted Answer

A)  Miocene 
B)  Paleogene 
C)  Tertiary 
D)  Paleocene 
A)  Miocene 
B)  Paleogene 
C)  Tertiary 
D)  Paleocene

Question 17

A rock that is 20 million years old comes from the ________ Epoch.

Accepted Answer

A)  Miocene 
B)  Cretaceous 
C)  Jurassic 
D)  Paleocene 
A)  Miocene 
B)  Cretaceous 
C)  Jurassic 
D)  Paleocene

Question 18

Radioactive dating is used to determine the age of fossil-bearing sedimentary beds

Accepted Answer

A)  by comparing the fossils to known fossils in other areas. 
B)  by using carbon dating on the sedimentary rock. 
C)  by using potassium-argon dating on the sedimentary rock. 
D)  by dating adjacent metamorphic or volcanic layers. 
A)  by comparing the fossils to known fossils in other areas. 
B)  by using carbon dating on the sedimentary rock. 
C)  by using potassium-argon dating on the sedimentary rock. 
D)  by dating adjacent metamorphic or volcanic layers.

Question 19

A uranium-lead age determined from a zircon crystal removed from a sandstone would reflect the time elapsed since the ________ of the zircon.

Accepted Answer

A)  erosion 
B)  deposition 
C)  crystallization 
D)  cementation 
A)  erosion 
B)  deposition 
C)  crystallization 
D)  cementation

Question 20

What observable data would not help a scientist piece together the layers of rock according to the principle of lateral continuity?

Accepted Answer

A)  core samples from a drilled well 
B)  a view of a cliff exposed by blasting a train track through it 
C)  an adjacent igneous mountain 
D)  a view of layers exposed in a river valley 
A)  core samples from a drilled well 
B)  a view of a cliff exposed by blasting a train track through it 
C)  an adjacent igneous mountain 
D)  a view of layers exposed in a river valley

Exam 7: Earth Materials As Time Keepers

A comparison of ages calculated by carbon-14 analysis with ages known by other means results in

Which isotope is the least stable?

The two keys to determining the absolute age of a rock are

Atoms that have the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons are called

Revisions of the absolute ages of the geologic time-scale boundaries exposes flaws inherent to the geologic time-scale.

Choose the option that orders the measurement of time from shortest to longest.

If daughter isotopes are lost from a mineral after radioactive decay begins the calculated age of the mineral in questions will be

What percentage of the 339 natural isotopes are unstable?

What did William Smith correlate while researching coal mines in Britain?

The oldest dated minerals on Earth are ________ years old.

What did the author of the following quote mean? "The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning -- no prospect of an end."

Why does a potassium-argon dating time scale reset during heating?

How do geologists reconstruct geologic history with rocks?

Which statement is not true about the principle of faunal succession?

While looking at a cliff, you observe that three visible layers of rocks are tilted about 30 degrees. There are four straight horizontal layers above the tilted layers. Which two principles suggest that the tilted layers are older than the horizontal layers?

A rock that is 20 million years old comes from the ________ Period.

A rock that is 20 million years old comes from the ________ Epoch.

Radioactive dating is used to determine the age of fossil-bearing sedimentary beds

A uranium-lead age determined from a zircon crystal removed from a sandstone would reflect the time elapsed since the ________ of the zircon.

What observable data would not help a scientist piece together the layers of rock according to the principle of lateral continuity?

Why Study Earth

Minerals: Building Blocks of the Planet

Rocks and Rock-Forming Processes

Formation of Magma and Igneous Rocks

Formation of Sediment and Sedimentary Rocks

Formation of Metamorphic Rocks

Earth Materials As Time Keepers

Making Earth

Motion Inside Earth

Deformation of Rocks

Global Tectonics: Plates and Plumes

Tectonics and Surface Relief

Soil Formation and Landscape Stability

Mass Movements: Landscapes in Motion

Streams: Flowing Water Shapes the Landscape

Water Flowing Underground

Glaciers: Cold-Climate Sculptors of Continents

Shorelines: Changing Landscapes Where Land Meets Sea

Wind: a Global Geologic Process

Global Warming: Real Time Change in the Earth System

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